Beyond our control
by Marina Floyr
Summary: MWPP fic. Black gets a bit of an additude problem, and Lupin has a hectic day in Hogsmeade...


Disclaimer: All mentioned characters 'cept for Stella are JKR's. Hail the woman.

Authors note: Hoo boy.....my first 'sirius' attempt. I know, I know, Sirius is characterized a little TOO abrasive. And I blab too much about the marauders. Its just to set things up, I promise. AND NO! STELLA IS NOT TURNING INTO A MARY SUE! I CAN GUARANTEE THAT! PLEASE tell me what you think! ::whmpers::

**Beyond our Control: Part 1**

"Damn Severus Snape"

The potraithole swung shut behind Sirius Black with a punctuated bang. "May he suffocate from the overload of grease in his own scalp". Three seventh years looked up, but besides them the Gryffindor common room was empty. James Potter, who had been pacing restlessly in front of the fireplace, responded with a 'here, here' lacking the usual enthusiasm.

"I take it you didn't get off the hook this time?"

"Not if Mcgonagall had any say in it" And considering that she had been a quite aggravated earlier when they were discussing England's Quidditch standings in Transfiguration class, no one could doubt Black's reply. "Greasyhead's still in the hospital wing though, I got 'em really good with a jellylegs curse. Racked up another detention though."

Arching a brow, Remus Lupin swiveled his chair around, turning from his chess game with Peter Pettigrew.

"Ah, but Padfoot, was it worth it?" he pointed out with a jaunty grin.

"Partially" Sirius mumbled dryly "That's not the bad part"

"Sorry to break it to you, but Mcgonagall doesn't seem to fall for your 'super smooth-talking' Sirius smile' as much as some girl from Hufflepuff...tell me she didn't give you the 'self control' speech again" Remus added with a smile, lightly chiding Black's impulsiveness with the usual quiet cheeriness before shaking his head "You really shouldn't have bothered dueling that scum"

Mildly indignant, Sirius turned to James with a sour expression, looking for support "Hey, he called Lil a mudblood again, I was simply defending the pride and honor of my best friend and his girl-"

"He did?" interrupted Potter with a frown, taking an involuntary step forward "I should have taken him then". He stopped himself before anyone could point out that he hadn't even been there to second Sirius, it was Remus who had been there while james was busy in the library writing a student newsletter with Lily. Being head boy took up alot of free time, usually longer periods if it involved Lily Evans. "so...then...what's the bad news?"

"Can't go to Hogsmeade this weekend. Extra five our study hall with- Old Binns" Black scowled, imitating Professor Binns' dry wheeze

"Well that's no problem" Remus shrugged casually, directing his queen to drag off Peter's black knight. Pettigrew looked positively dumbfounded, staring slack-jawed at the chessboard, losing badly yet again.

"You know Binns, he probably can't tell us from a first year, he's so airheaded (literally)" continued Lupin "Go get someone to sit in for you, we'll bribe a second year with stuff from Honeydukes. Then you can slip off down the tunnel on the third floor, transform, and play stray for the afternoon. The three of us will meet you at noon outside Zonko-"

"Two" interjected James with a half-sigh "Love to join the fun, but I'm already booked for the day with the lovely Miss Evans" Sirius shot him a quick look, opened his mouth to say something, but then hesitated for a moment, arching a brow.

"You know...you're getting to be one lovesick puppy" he smirked, rolling his eyes

"And what does that make you, Padfoot my pal, chaser of poodles down Hogsmeade's dark alleys at one in the morning on a school night?" James shot back with a wink. Black hid a smug look and flopped backwards into an armchair carelessly.

"What can I say? I've got the best of both worlds. But shut it about that incident already, will ya?"

Peter cleared his throat meekly, a look of uncertainty crossing his eyes as he glanced over to James. He had looked rather uncomfortable with the plan from the moment it had been brought up, but now looked almost paled at the fact James wouldn't be accompanying them. "Er...I don't know fellas, someone's bound to get suspicious with the two of us walking around with a dog. I think I'll just skip this escapade" her murmured, sulking as he scooted his last pawn forward.

"Suit yourself" shrugged Lupin absently. "So I guess it's just you and me Padfoot...Peter's right, it'll look alot less fishy that way " he nodded logically. Black seemed to be only half-listening though, eyes trained on the maroon-red carpet moodily. "Hey, look. If we see the Slytherin slime ball in Honeydukes I can just transfigure his Chocolate frogs for live ones or something"

Sirius looked up and grinned. turning back to his game, Remus squinted down at the chess pieces, then looked up accusingly at peter "alright you little rat, move that king back. You know it was my turn, and I'm one move away from getting you in checkmate."

************

For a mid-April day, it was unusually warm as Lupin wandered the Hogsmeade streets, glancing thoughtfully into the window of a nearby bookshop where the front display showed a wildly thrashing grindylow pictured on a large hardcover. Cocking his head to the side, he watched it swim around in circles before sticking it's tongue out at him.

Lupin supposed he took his fascination with magical creatures from his frequent visits to Hagrid the gameskeeper. But probably because he was one of those creatures mentioned in the book himself, Remus was more intrigued than fanatical about them. In fact, he was even lightly offended being considered part of the Defense against the Dark Arts curriculum at all. Werewolves simply had no choice, while grindylows and hinkypunks were inside and out nasty little beasts.

Ducking between the crowd, Lupin scanned the flood of black pointed hats for anyone he wouldn't care to run into. Sure enough, Snape was not far away, alone as well as he came out of a dimly lit pawn shop. A girl from Ravenclaw too, who had completely stood him up at last years Yule ball, was there among the milling Hogwarts students, was laughing at a conversation with her friends that carried across the crowd. He couldn't bear to see _her_ face again either.

Unlike James or Sirius, Remus had a very small history (if any) with females. He wasn't as outgoing either, which was probably better in the long run. Lupin was the Marauders' voice of reason to keep James and Sirius in check during their crowd stirrings, while they in turn kept the usually laid-back Lupin under control during those few days of particular moon phases where Moony became a bit difficult. Nice, balanced system of friendship really. The only one who seemed a little out of place was Peter, who had hung around them mainly because he had known James before his Hogwarts days. They had grown apart since then, but James still was protective of Pettigrew as if he were a younger brother. You'd always get the impression that Black and Pettigrew were a tad resentful of each other though.

Remus stopped in Zonko's joke shop at a quarter to twelve and casually picked through some of the items on display. The wizard behind the counter gave him a friendly wave, and Lupin returned it ignoring the puzzled look on the shopkeeper's face. This was probably the first time he'd ever seen one of his best customers without the other three.

While considering a trick mirror which showed the viewer with the face of a gorilla, Lupin noticed from the corner of his eye the reflection of a black dog peering anxiously at him from outside the window. He turned abruptly and walked straight out the door without making a purchase (which didn't win him another wave from the shopkeeper), nodding to Padfoot. The dog winked in return, then without warning took off though the busy streets. Lupin followed curiously, nearly tripping over his own robes in an attempt to keep up with his friend (four legs are faster than two, after all). They ducked off into an alleyway behind the three broomsticks, and there was a growing blur before Black was standing where the dog had been, wearing an excited grin.

"Geez, what wags your tail?" murmured Lupin in a low tone "Get by Binns okay?"

"Yeah yeah...you should see what I found on my way here Moony!"

"What, the potions professor getting fired?"

"Don't we wish...naw, better" smirked Black, leaning against three crates of stacked butterbeer "there's this girl I saw in the apothecaries, and I swear she's veela Remus!"

Lupin shrugged, blinking a bit. It seemed the usual thing for Sirius to get worked up over.

"So? You're staying as a dog out there, remember?"

Sirius grinned impatiently "You're missing my point Moony...I'm gonna set you up with the Veela chick". Now being part of Sirius's skirt chasing antics wasn't exactly what Lupin had planned, but before he could even open his mouth to protest, Padfoot had already transformed and headed off into the crowd again. Heaving a sigh, Remus rolled his eyes and followed somewhat reluctantly. The last time he tagged along on this sort of thing, he wound up with a black eye from an affronted redhead from Hufflepuff.

But he should have hurried, because a split-second later he heard a cry of surprise and the sound of shattering glass, followed by a loud bark. Just perfect Padfoot, you win the prize for disturbing the peace. Smacking his forehead, Remus rushed over to the sidewalk in front of the tavern to find a winded girl on the ground with spilled books and broken vials scattered all around her. Wagging his tail at her side was a great black dog, nodding in Lupin's direction with a proud kind of air. It seemed he at Purposely bowled the girl over, and Remus regretted not stopping him sooner.

"What did you do that for?" he hissed angrily at Padfoot "Now we're the center of attention!"

"Pardon?" piped up a rather bewildered high voice from the cobblestone. The girl certainly seemed to fit into Sirius's 'veela standards', with a silver-blonde sheet of hair and a well fitted traveling cloak. Lupin stood gawking as she fumbled for her thin-rimmed glasses and wiped a fleck of mud from them with a half annoyed tsk, refitting them over a pair of strikingly blue eyes.

"I'm uh...sorry miss...uh...my dog-" Lupin quickly stuttered out an apology , while Padfoot sat down on his haunches looking triumphant "hasn't got much exercise...er, in awhile"

"Oh, so he's yours then" she sighed disapprovingly, reaching for upturned bag.

"yeah...eh-heh...mans best friend n' all...how'd you know he was a guy- wait, nevermind" he shot a dirty look at Padfoot, who lolled his tongue out and stared innocently at the sky. "Here, let me help you" he offered weakly, and bent down to pick up a copy of Advanced Astrology "What's your name?"

"Stella" replied the veela girl airily, holding out her bag so that Lupin could replace it

"I'm Remus Lu-" But his voice cut off abruptly as his hand froze over another spilt object, an amulet....a silver one. His eyes went wide and he quickly drew his hand back, breaking off into a cough. She picked up the talisman and placed this too in her bag, and by the time Stella had looked up his face was rather pale.

"Are you alright?"

Remus sputtered for another answer, gaze darting around the rest of the pavement to avoid her eyes. He noticed a broken jar and it's label, then faked another cough

"It's...It's the pixie dust. I'm allergic" he responded foolishly with an excuse that granted him a loud chuff which would have been a snigger from Black.

"Oh" blushed stella, her mood changing a bit. "Remus Loo, did you say your name was?" she smiled at him now, flipping her hair back over her shoulder as she pulled herself up.

"No, it's Lupin" Remus answered distractedly, but stood and handed her the last pack of Tarot cards "again, I'm really really sorry. Do you want me to pay for that spilt stuff?" he offered apologetically, eyeing the remains of brand new potions ingredients still littering the sidewalk.

"No, No....just get that dog of yours a chain or something" she muttered as Lupin reached over to grab Padfoot by the scruff off the neck, but Sirius kept jerking his head wildly to the right, staring intently at Remus. It a took a moment for Lupin to understand, but when he did he heaved a disgruntled sigh and folded his arms across his chest.

"Alright!...Alright, I get the picture. Just don't ever put me in this position again" he muttered in return, while Stella looked on curiously with a gentle chuckle

"You talk to him like that Remus? They really don't know what you're saying" she blinked, and Padfoot did a whiny sort of growl. Brought back to his senses, Remus turned to Stella and decided to let Black go on making an utter fool of himself.

"Er...you...you wouldn't want me to treat you to a butterbeer or something, would you? It's the least I could do after this mongrel pal of mine bowled you over"

"Oh sure, that's awful sweet of you Remus" The girl flashed him a grin and headed for the door of the three broomsticks as Lupin motioned for her to go inside and wait. Soon as her face disappeared, he turned with a smirk to shoo Padfoot away, who was about to follow them into the pub "No dogs allowed. Thanks for the introduction...now go play fetch nicely with the shrieking shack 'ghosts' ". Padfoot growled in reply.

***

"Yes..I'm really into Astrology" Stella replied demurely a hour or so later as she and Lupin sipped foaming tankards of Butterbeer. Remus couldn't help feeling a little awkward, but couldn't help making the most of things when he saw Black slink in a few minutes before, slipping under the table. He wouldn't kick him out now, after all it had begun to rain, and had already taught him a little lesson about how bad dogs wind up on Saturday afternoons. Stella smiled back at Remus "The stars and moon...fascinating really"

"Er...the moon" he repeated in a strained voice, feeling his throat tighten. Why had she brought up_ that _subject? She seemed to have taken no notice of his discomfort and tossed her hair again, voice still airy and flutelike

"Do you like stargazing Remus?" she smiled, and Lupin found himself in dumb silence, staring at her with a blank panic. Suddenly he blinked, as Padfoot's muzzle prodded his knee, giving an impatient whine-sigh, striking him with an idea.

"Uh..yes! yes, in fact just the other night I noticed how unusually bright Sirius was! Sirius the star that is, not Sirius the dog...I mean the dog star of course" he squinted, confusing himself a bit.

"You certainly seem to have an affiliation with canines" Stella laughed, a heady laugh like a bell. Lupin chuckled weakly in turn, murmuring a low, bemused 'closer than you'd think'

He managed to remain at ease afterwards, as their conversation moved by at a careless pace. For the first time ever, Lupin's girl-shy mannerisms seemed to melt away as they chatted on past three o'clock. true, he was receiving a little help with the occasional wink or nod of approval from Padfoot under the table

"Well...we should be getting back soon. need to be at Hogwarts for dinner" Lupin sighed, draining his second butterbeer. The veela girl smiled, batted her eyes as she contemplated him for a moment

"So you are from Hogwarts then. I suspected you were an intellectual" she nodded in approval and suddenly leaned forward to give a feather-light kiss on the cheek "-cute too"

Lupin gaped at her.

"Well...well I..I wonder if we can meet here again. I'll be back down every other weekend"

"Sure. It's a pleasure...sorry about the pixie dust" she added with a wink.

"Naw, really, it's okay." he grinned back. The day hadn't gone so badly after all. he actually nearly forgot Black was there. Sirius had apparently begun to enjoy himself a little too much also.

"Er...you're dog's sniffing me again" blinked Stella, wrinkling her nose as she pushed her chair back a bit. Padfoot threw Lupin a quick guilty look, then slunk back under the table and laid his head on his paws. Remus turned a bright shade of pink as it suddenly dawned on him what had gotten Black so quiet, and he sprang up from the chair

"PAD- I mean...BAD DOG!" Lupin shouted with a horrified look, and Black wore a expression far too smug to be achieved by an ordinary pooch as he emerged. "Uh...I'm sorry, Snuffles erm...is quite fond of females...hasn't been fixed"

Now it was 'Snuffles' turn to look mortified.

"Oh, is that his name?" Stella inquired, patting Padfoot gingerly on the head.

"Yeah...crazy mutt really...can't keep your paws off the ladies, can you Snuffles?". Black growled, shooting Lupin a glare, but Stella giggled.

"So I see...well...see you here then, two weeks" she nodded, giving him another kiss on the cheek before sweeping back out into the street, silvery hair flowing behind her.

****

"Seriously Sirius...do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?" Lupin sighed as they trudged up the dark tunnel to the castle ten minutes later, both wands lit now that Black had assumed his human form.

"What are you talking about, I just hooked you up with a girl that looks half veela!"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about"

Black shrugged, twiddling his wand between his fingers so that the light bounced off the walls.

"Hey, I'm allowed. No rule that a dog can't take a little peek up a girl's skirt"

"But you're...not really a dog. You can't just-"

"Jealous?" Sirius broke in with a daring smirk "heck, I have my advantages Moony...and just think of what Peter could-" Lupin cut him off with a sharp frown, not really wanting to hear what could come next.

"Look, you just can't do that, alright? And don't give me anymore of that doggy instinct wise answers. Learn to control yourself"

Black nearly sputtered something about Moony turning Mcgonagall, but instead turned with a grumble and hurried a bit ahead in the tunnel, wand light silhouetting him.

"Geez...you guys are so unappreciative these days, really..." Sirius had taken these on and off moods frequently lately, shifting from chummy to downright abrasive at the drop of a hat. The last time he blew of steam, Black had even hollered a good few minutes or so about erasing Prongs' name off the map because of his new lack of enthusiasm for as many antics. He often made a rather possessive friend, and they were always waiting for him to explode. But on the whole, Black's loyalty as a companion had never wavered.

They walked in silence a few more paces before Sirius shook his head in disappointment, snorting with mild laughter. "Snuffles...what kind of name is that? It looks real lame on your part Remus, real lame..."

Lupin arched a brow.

"Well you have a preference then, Or would you rather me just call you Padfoot in front of the whole world? That'd be tactless."

Black hesitated, then threw up his hands in a half-chuckle

"You _are_ tactless. Three hours with a girl and you yak about astronomy class"

"I rather enjoyed the conversation. You know I'm no lady-killer Sirius, I'm not trying to."Lupin simply smiled pleasantly.

"Well don't expect me to give you lessons. Look what it did to James. Now he's all worried about commitments and running off for some headboy project" snapped Black as he swiveled around, and Lupin stared back, mildly surprised. Never before had Sirius shown any bitterness over James being Head Boy. It was usually only more opportune. Sirius could have made prefect himself if he weren't such a terrific slacker in half his classes. It couldn't be the problem. "I'm surprised he hasn't made us start calling her Lily Potter yet"

Oh. So that was it. He should have guessed after the yelling fit he had heard in the common room last night, and how the two inseparables had hardly spoken to each other at breakfast. It was probably a good thing that Black had the time to cool off. Remus also decided this was no time to get caught in the middle of things

"Er...well, I'm not planning on ditching you guys for any steady girlfriend, you can be sure about that. And we'll never have to worry about Peter being a deserter-" The two of them rolled their eyes in the darkness and grinned at each other. They could help on agreeing that Pettigrew was rather clingy. Aside from having passive and dynamic natures, Remus and Sirius had alot in common.

Nearing the end of the passage, Black held his lit wand up to the folded piece of parchment in his robe pocket

"Map says the passage'll be clear in a moment...yep, there goes Filch" he sighed, then turned around to face Lupin casually. "Oh...and Moony?" he said sing-songishly, before turning his voice to a fierce whisper. "If anyone EVER call me Snuffles again, they have a death wish"


End file.
